Animal Liability for Tenants and Renters

FOR TENANTS AND RENTERS WHO OWN A PET

Is your dog or animal making it more difficult to rent your new place? If so, XINSURANCE can help. With our custom animal liability insurance protection plan, we can insure any breed of animal, even with previous incidents. Your custom animal liability insurance protection plan can extend coverage to your landlord or property management company by listing them as an additional insured. This should help make the search for your next home that much easier. We can provide the solutions you and your landlord have been searching for – animal liability for tenants and renters.

Who We Can Help

When is the landlord liable for a dog bite or other injury caused by the tenant's pet?

Each state has different laws, however, a landlord could be held accountable if they (1) knew the dog was dangerous, (2) have the ability to remove the animal, or (3) harbored or kept the tenant’s pet, such as, cared for or had some control over the animal.

Questions to consider:

When is the tenant liable for a dog bite or other injury caused by the tenant's pet?

In most cases, if a dog causes harm, the owner of the dog is the one who is responsible. This is particularly true if this is the first time the animal has displayed vicious behavior.

Questions to consider:

How can a landlord mitigate risks?

Get references and screen the tenant, charge a higher rent, collect a larger security deposit, evaluate personality over breed, and require that a pet be spayed or neutered.

Questions to consider:

Can I get renters insurance for pet damage or injury?

It depends on the state but probably not. Renters insurance typically excludes property damage and injury caused by an animal. Some renters insurance may include animal liability, however, they can still exclude certain breeds or deny coverage based on your pet’s bite history.

Questions to consider:

Does your pet have a bite history?

Many states consider any pet with a dog bite history of any kind as “dangerous.” Owners of such pets are required by certain states and regions to carry proper animal liability coverage.

Questions to consider:

What breeds are most commonly excluded from homeowners and renters insurance policies?

Know the Facts

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 4.5 million people are bitten by dogs each year and about 885,000 require medical attention for these injuries; about half of these are children. Senior citizens are the second most common dog bite victims.

The 2014 average cost per claim was up 15 percent. The average cost paid out for dog bite claims nationwide was $32,072 in 2014, compared with $27,862 in 2013. The average cost per claim nationally has risen more than 67 percent from 2003 to 2014

*Stats from Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) and State Farm®

Dog bites (and other dog-related injuries) accounted for more than one-third of all homeowners insurance liability claim dollars paid out in 2014, costing in excess of $530 million

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XINSURANCE is a DBA of Evolution Insurance Brokers, LC. Our insurance policies are issued by excess and surplus lines insurance companies. These insurers may not be licensed by the state insurance department in your state and may not be subject to your state's supervision and may not be protected in the event of insolvency of the insurer by your state's guaranty or security fund. The policy issued may not be subject to any or all of the regulations of your state's insurance department pertaining to policy forms.